Daily Update On Current Affairs – October 07, 2017

Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit was sworn-in by Madras High Court Chief Justice Indira Banerjee at the Raj Bhavan in Chennai on 6th October 2017. He entered the Maharashtra Assembly for the first time in 1978 from the Nagpur east seat. Mr. Purohit was appointed as the Governor of Assam State by the President of India on August 17, 2016. Edappadi K. Palaniswami is the present Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

2017 Nobel Peace Prize Announced

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2017 to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) “for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons”. The 2017 Peace Prize calls upon nuclear-armed states to initiate negotiations to the gradual elimination of the world’s 15,000 nuclear weapons adding that ICAN has in the past year given the efforts to achieve a world without nuclear weapons a new direction and new vigor. The Nobel Peace Prize 2016 was awarded to Juan Manuel Santos “for his resolute efforts to bring the country’s more than 50-year-long civil war to an end”.

Donald Trump is the most followed world leader on Twitter

Donald Trump is now the world’s most followed leader on Twitter, while Narendra Modi is the third, according to the latest report by Twiplomacy, a Burson Marsteller research project that tracks the use of Twitter by governments and international organizations. Trump overtook Pope Francis by a few thousand followers to occupy the first place in Twiplomacy’s October report. Narendra Modi has kept his third place consistently since 2016. Modi’s own account, @narendramodi, has more than 34 million followers, while the official @PMOIndia account is at the fourth position with a following of more than 21 million. India’s Foreign Minister, @SushmaSwaraj, is the most followed female world leader in the world with a 9.6 million following on Twitter.

Vijaya Bank enters into MoU with HPCL

Vijaya Bank has entered into a MoU with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) for enabling all HPCL retail outlets with BHIM/UPI merchant solutions. This rollout will empower all petrol pump attendants and LPG delivery personnel to accept digital payments. Customers can make payments by scanning a payment QR code, using BHIM Vijaya or any BHIM app that supports payments via UPI. Both Vijaya Bank and HPCL have inked the pact in line with the GOI initiative to encourage digital payments, especially BHIM/UPI.

R. A. Sankara Narayanan is the MD and CEO of Vijaya Bank.

HDFC Life joins hands with Apollo Munich for Dual Cover

HDFC Life Insurance and Apollo Munich Health have come together to launch ‘Click2Protect Health plan’, which provides both life and health cover under a single plan. This plan combines the benefits of HDFC Life’s ‘Click2Protect 3D Plus (term) protection plan’ and Apollo Munich’s ‘Optima Restore health indemnity plan’. The features of the product include the waiver of future premiums on account of accidental total permanent disability or on the diagnosis of critical illness; and special premium rates for women and non-tobacco users.

European Investment Bank finances Bangalore Metro Rail project

On 5th October 2017, it was announced that India and the European Investment Bank have signed an agreement by which the latter will finance Bangalore Metro Rail Project to the extent of 300 million Euros. This is for the Phase II of the Metro Rail project. The project implementation is for a period of 5 years. The Phase II will be jointly financed by the European Investment Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Phase II involves a total length of 72 kms with 61 stations, out of which 12 will be underground.

ISRO sets up Research Centre in Guwahati

The Indian Space Research Organisation has set up a Research Centre in Guwahati, the first of its kind in Assam. This was announced on 5th October 2017. The Centre will be useful for the startups, researchers, academicians, environmentalists, and entrepreneurs. The Centre will use geospatial technology through global positioning system, geographical information systems and satellite remote sensing for the development of Assam as a state overall. This will enable flood warning system, soil erosion and landslides.

Journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh, who was shot dead by unknown assailants recently, has been posthumously accorded with the prestigious Anna Politkovskaya Award, instituted by Reach All Women (RAW) in War. They awarded the annual Anna Politkovskaya Award for women human rights defenders from war and conflict zones jointly to Gauri Lankesh posthumously and to a brave Pakistani activist Gulalai Ismail, who similarly is fighting against Islamic extremism. Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian journalist was killed in 2006 in Moscow for her courage to speak out on behalf of the suffering of the civilians in the war in Chechnya. Gauri was awarded Periyar Award posthumously by the Thinkers Forum on September 17 in Bengaluru.

First ever ASEAN Music Festival Begins in New Delhi

The first ever ASEAN-India music festival began at Purana Quila in New Delhi. The 3-day festival is being organized by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India in collaboration with Culture Ministry to celebrate the 25th year anniversary of ASEAN-India Dialogue Relations. It will conclude on 8 October 2017. The theme for this commemorative year is ‘Shared Values, Common Destiny’. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a regional intergovernmental organization comprising ten Southeast Asian states.

Under 17 FIFA World Cup Football tournament begins in India for the first time

The much-awaited FIFA U-17 World Cup started with four opening day matches to be played in Delhi and Mumbai. The opening matches would be played by teams in Group A and B. In Delhi, the inaugural match would be played between Group A teams Colombia and Ghana at Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium, followed by hosts India who would take on Team USA in the second match. In Mumbai, Group B team New Zealand would be taking on Turkey in the first game at DY Patil stadium in Navi Mumbai. The Official Mascot of the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 is a clouded leopard called Kheleo. This is the first FIFA tournament hosted by India. The final will be held at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on 28 October 2017.